US filter brand Aurora Aperture has announced a neutral density filter that it claims reduces exposure by 16 stops. The company has launched a new family of fixed factor ND filters called PowerND and is offering strengths of 6, 12 and 16 stops in screw-in and square formats.

The ND64, ND4000 and ND65000 filters will be available for threads of 37-95mm as well as a special 105mm version that will fit an adapter for the Nikkor AF-S 14-24mm F2.8G ED wide-angle zoom. Those preferring a filter system will be able to use the 100 x 100mm square filters. The 16-stop filter is designed for those wanting to make long exposures in daylight conditions and can knock a 1/1000sec shutter speed situation down to 1 minute.

Aurora Aperture has also introduces a series called Aurora CR with filters designed to fit over the rear mount of Canon super-wide lenses. The arch-window-shaped Gorilla Glass filters slide into a holder that screws on to the rear of the lens, and while aimed at users of the Canon EF 11-24mm F4 L USM the system will work with a range of the company’s wide-angle zoom lenses.

The filters are available via Kickstarter with delivery and general sales due to begin in August. Prices start from $34 for small screw-in filters of any of the strengths, to $117 for the 150mm circular filter. The CR kit including the holder and three filters is $165. For more information see the Aurora Aperture website and the company’s Kickstarter page.

The 6 stop filter is typically used in low light conditions such as during sunrise or sunset for sub-second shutter speed. The 12 stop filter can slow down shutter speed to minutes in dusk and dawn conditions. The 16 stop filter can do magic on a bright day, allowing photographers to expose up to several minutes or more.

The ND4000 and ND65000 have distinct advantages in having more stops than the typical ND1000 or ND32000. They allow users to avoid diffraction softening by enabling users to avoid very small aperture settings or alternatively allowing for longer exposures. In the case of the PowerND 4000 that means two more stops than the typical ND1000 and for the Power ND65000 there’s one additional stop.

“We introduced a variable ND family last year and it was embraced by photographers and videographers worldwide,” said Jinfu Chen, founder and CEO of Aurora Aperture Inc. “the fixed ND family we introduce today is much more powerful in terms of light reduction capability and offers even better optical performance, along with more formats for different camera lenses.”

A small rear mount filter using Gorilla® Glass for the Canon EF 11-24mm F4L USM is an industry first. Prior to this users would have to use extremely large filters with diameters up to 186mm with a bulky front lens shade adapter. The Aurora CR format filter mounts in the rear of the lens, making it much easier to carry and lower in cost. Other Canon lenses that Aurora CR format filter can be used in* are the EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye, EF 11-24mm F4L USM, EF 14mm f/2.8L US, EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye, EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM, and EF 17-40mm f/4L USM.

Designed in California by Aurora Aperture, the Aurora PowerND filters employ up to 128 layers of double sided nano coating** in order to achieve color accuracy and powerful light reduction capability. Hydrophobic and oleophobic coating is applied to filter surface with PFPE coating. The end result is that water droplet on the filter surface can maintain a static contact angle of 110 degrees, one of the best in the industry.

Availability and PricingThe Aurora PowerND family will be available through Kickstarter starting in April 2017 and to dealers and direct orders in August 2017. List price starts at US$42 and varies depending on filter format and size.http://www.aurora-aperture.cominfo@aurora-aperture.com* As of April 21, 2017** ND4000 and ND65000

The very long exposure time allowed by these Power ND filters makes for some serious potential IR-related color cast.Do they include some IR barrier (maybe part assigned to the nano coating treatment?)

Welcome to this new range of filters anyway--although I've only been using my Hoya ND filter for 3-4 shots in the past three years...

I've stacked a 10 stop and 6 stop filter together (16stop total) and was able to autofocus easily enough. It was a Fuji X-E1 and in full midday sun though.Edit: I just checked out the exif on that shot...ISO200 f/13 18mm end of the 18-55 f2.8-4.I remember it gave me an AF confirmed green square but in reality, it could have missed focus and I wouldn't know becuase of the DOF.

I can't speak as to a 16-stop, but with the Live View Boost frature I'm able to manually focus on my Olympus and even use peaking with a 10-stop. Maybe if you used live view and cranked the ISO up you could do the same on a Canon body.

@AsukaHolic, the only problem with that strategy is that it only works well with the square filters. With circular filters, your likely to accidently move the focus while screwing in the filter, and the other type of filter Aurora offers attaches behind the lens (between the lens and body).

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